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PASTOR GENERAL'S
REPORT
TO THE MINISTRY OF THE
WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
VOL.6, N0.28
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
FROM MINISTERIAL SERVICES
JULY 13, 1984
Local Church Elders Not Required to Pay Third Tithe--a Clarification
Several ministers have asked for a clarification on whether local church
elders should pay third tithe. Local church elders do, of course, incur ex
penses in serving the congregation. Because of their responsibilities and
the expenses involved in travel, etc., Mr. Armstrong has decided that they
are not required to pay third tithe. (This, of course, does not mean they
cannot if they wish to.)
International News
New Zealand Report Mr. Rex Morgan, a local elder who works in the Auckland
office, �ade a week-long visiting tour of Vanuatu (formerly known as the
New Hebrides). God's Church has four members in this island nation situ
ated to the west of Fiji. Mr. Morgan was able to visit these brethren and
also a number of prospective members. During the trip, he stayed one night
with a group of seven French-speaking schoolteachers in a primitive village
on the remote island of Malekula. These people have no electricity or run
ning water, and the temperatures were extremely hot. Mr. Morgan played
some tapes of the French-language "WORLD TOMORROW" program and answered
many Bible questions for the group.
Vanuatu is a bilingual nation where both English and French are spoken.
Newsstands are the principal way, besides word of mouth, of bringing The
PLAIN TRUTH to the people of Vanuatu. Both the English and French editions
of the magazine are distributed each month in the towns of Vanuatu.
Mail and income for the entire area serviced by New Zealand were both down
this month. The decrease in mail was because we have been holding off
sending renewals for three months in order to institute the new policy of
three grace issues for PLAIN TRUTH subscribers. Income was down 10.9% com
pared with the exceptionally high income received in May 1983.
It appears that the office has been experiencing a "lull before the storm"
with Mr. Armstrong's semiannual letter and some large renewal mailings due
in the near future, and another READER'S DIGEST advertisement appearing in
the June issue. Responses to the March READER'S DIGEST ad have now topped
the 1,100 mark, which is a 0.67% response.
Italian Summary The Italian Department, based in Pasadena, reports that
PLAIN TRUTH circulation has reached 53,939, which is a 224% increase over
May of last year. There are now 15 members and 178 co-workers in Italy.
The March READER'S DIGEST ad brought in another 869 responses in May to
bring the total to 9,868. This is close to the 10,485 responses that the
previous ad of November 1983 brought. The insert card, placed in La PURA
VERITA offering a subscription to those people reading a friend's copy,
continues to bring good returns, with 1,689 coming in May.